Happily Ever After
by prosopopeya
Summary: Set after that episode where Buffy left Spike and called him William. It's a songfic Jimmy Buffett's Happily Ever After Now and Then. PG13 for language and a mild sexual reference.


Story: Set after Buffy leaves Spike and calls him "William." I don't know the name of the show, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It was in the last season. It's a song fic, and I changed the ending, and yes it is happily ever after. Every now and then, at least. ;) SPIKE AND BUFFY FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Buffy characters or "Happily Ever After (Now and Then)." Joss Whedon owns the Buffster and Co. and Jimmy Buffett owns the song.  
  
Oh, and the stuff surrounded by asterisks (*) is the song.  
  
*I've been a stand in stunt man; I've taken some falls  
  
Troubles, I've had my share  
  
But one has to learn how to run before walkin' round  
  
Breathin' that million air*  
  
Spike sat in his crypt, drinking heavily. Three empty bottles of various wines and other alcoholic beverages lay around him.  
  
Damn Buffy. Why did she have to leave him?  
  
The thing that puzzled him the most was the fact that she had called him William. That's what hurt. That's what cut his heart so deep that he thought any moment the blood would pour from his chest.  
  
*Take it from me 'cause I found  
  
If you leave it then somebody else is bound  
  
To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure  
  
When yours it could have been*  
  
He wondered if he should go after her, try to talk to her. But then he thought about what Buffy would do. She would either do one of two things: not talk, or beat him up.  
  
He sighed bitterly and took another sip from the drink in his hand. He didn't even taste it.  
  
Why did she have to do that? Couldn't she have just kept on shagging him? He knew inside that she never would love him. At least, she would never let himself. But he wanted to believe that she did, and that was why she was coming to him.  
  
*Some people never find it; Some only pretend, but me  
  
I just want to live happily ever after  
  
Every now and then*  
  
He just wanted a happily ever after. Was that so hard to ask?  
  
He shook his head as that thought rang through him. Happily ever after. He had to know that happily-ever-afters weren't meant for vampires. For soulless beings.  
  
For monsters.  
  
And now the closest thing he had ever gotten to having a happily ever after was gone. Out his door, out of his crypt, into the world she didn't want to be in. Fighting the monsters in her mind. Struggling to win and survive in the sea of corruption and evil.  
  
Spike hoped that she hadn't just cut her lifeline.  
  
*I've been in vans and in bands on and through stages  
  
One thing I can conclude  
  
One has to learn havin' fun is just smilin' through  
  
Those changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes*  
  
He knew that the only thing that had been keeping her sane for some reason was him. At least, him between her legs. Why did he have to love her? Why?  
  
Damn her.  
  
Damn him.  
  
He sighed and lit a cigarette before he took a long drag, hoping that it would calm him. It didn't.  
  
His cold, un-beating heart lay broken within his chest, and nothing would fix it.  
  
Nothing but her.  
  
*Take it from me 'cause I found  
  
If you leave it then somebody else is bound  
  
To find that treasure, that moment of pleasure  
  
When yours it could have been*  
  
"Why?" Spike yelled to the cold stone walls, so much like the heart inside of him. "Why did she have to leave? Why do I have to love her so damn much?" he asked bitterly. The walls didn't reply.  
  
He lifted the bottle to take another sip from it, then glared at it. He slammed it against the wall. It didn't make him feel better.  
  
"Spike?"  
  
The voice was soft and cautious. He would know it anywhere. He turned his head to see her standing in his door. She stepped into the crypt, coming closer to him. Her scent came to him and he breathed it in.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying to sound bitter.  
  
"I-I-" Buffy started but she faltered and looked down at the crypt floor.  
  
*Some people never find it; Some only pretend, but me  
  
I just want to live happily ever after  
  
Every now and then*  
  
Spike watched her, his crazy heart hoping. Don't be stupid, he told himself. She didn't come back for you.  
  
Buffy looked back up, and now Spike could see the tears in her eyes. Now he felt the bitter façade fade and he had to go to her, put his arms around her and kiss her tears away. But she wouldn't let him. Never would ever again.  
  
"Spike," Buffy choked before she came and wrapped her arms around him. Spike was stunned, but wrapped his arms around her frame savoring every moment.  
  
"I'm so sorry. I-I-I-love you," she murmured. She hugged him tighter and said it again. "I love you."  
  
Spike knew that she was telling him the truth. He could hear it in her voice. He hugged her tighter and kissed her hair. "I love you too."  
  
Buffy pulled back and the two lovers stared at each other for a few moments before they leaned together for a kiss, sweet and pure.  
  
Maybe happily ever after isn't so impossible, after all.  
  
*Some people never find it; Some only pretend, but me  
  
Hell  
  
I just want to live happily ever after  
  
Every now and then* 


End file.
